Atheism
by TheViolaBuddy
Summary: I don't belong in this temple, this place of worship, smashing everything apart. Especially since I don't believe in the gods that these monuments are meant to honor. And yet, here I am.


**Atheism**

I really shouldn't be here. This is a temple, a place of worship to the Golden Goddesses. In front of me stand three enormous statues of them, beautiful stone women carved in exquisite detail: a tall drummer dancing fiercely amongst flames, a stern harpist with hair flowing gracefully around her body, a bashful flutist in an elegant dress holding blossoming flowers. This is a sacred place, one meant for prayer and sacrifice to the great creators of Hyrule.

And I don't believe in them.

Sure, they make fantastic stories. Din, the goddess of the flame, creating the solid earth; Farore, the mother of life, planting forests and giving rise to the many Hyrulean races; Nayru, the ruler of order, organizing the people and teaching them law. But there are plenty of good stories that are not true. Why should this story have any more weight to it than others?

But I'm not here in this temple to argue about theology. I'm here to stop a certain evil pig demon from resurfacing. I need to find the Triforce of Courage to keep his power repressed, and it's hidden at the heart of this temple. And by "the heart of this temple," I mean "the rooms hidden behind the three statues." I have a map that clearly shows that.

It's obvious by the way the temple is set up what I have to do to get there. There are enormous hammer-shaped stones above each of the Goddess Statues, held precariously above them by nothing more than a simple rope. And at the foot of the statues is a treasure chest containing a Magic Boomerang. I'm supposed to cut the ropes with the boomerang to release the hammers, shattering the statues and granting me passage to the rooms behind them.

And yet, as I stand here, ready to throw the boomerang, I find that my grip refuses to release. These are statues of _goddesses_. And I'm about to destroy them? Whether or not I believe in them, they're still holy figures. It's not right to just shatter them. I'm in a place of worship, where people once came to pray. It would just be wrong to take this place away from those who do believe.

Besides, at the very least, it'd be wrecking art that is centuries old, if not more. The goddesses have been standing here for ages, undisturbed, since this temple was hidden away by magic. And then I come in to ruin it all. The temple itself was completely sealed off until I opened the way with some magic song I learned. Archaeologists wouldn't even get a chance to document or study anything in here before I destroy it all.

But I have to do this. Ganon's defeat depends on it. He may still be confined to the Dark World, but his seal is weakening, if the widespread natural disasters—or unnatural disasters, as the case may be—are any indication. And the Triforce of Courage lies beyond the statues.

Which brings me back to my dilemma. Should I destroy these statues, or not?

A different person—a devout person—would have broken these statues immediately without another thought. It would've been his or her mission from the Powers that Be to stop Ganon, and if a few statues of the Goddesses were in the way, then they should be broken. That's the will of the Goddesses. Simple as that. And yet I, who don't believe in the Goddesses, am the one who refuses to break statues of them. What irony.

Sighing, I place my new Magic Boomerang on the ground and sit on the now-empty treasure chest. …If the Goddesses did exist, why wouldn't they have chosen someone more religious to be their Hero? Or even just make _me_ more religious? It would've been so much easier.

But of course, they don't exist. And somehow, an atheist like me is thrust into the role of the Messiah.

I shake my head. That is completely irrelevant right now. I need to get into the central chamber to find the Triforce of Courage to stop Ganon. ...Without breaking those statues of the Golden Goddesses. Which is completely impossible, given that the statues are literally embedded into the wall in around the doorway to the central chamber.

I know that the Hero is supposed to have courage and do the impossible and yadda yadda yadda. And yeah, of course no one's going to care about how beautiful or artful these statues are if Ganon kills us all or plunges the world into darkness or whatever Evil Thing™ he's planning. But that doesn't make me feel like a pretty bad monster for destroying them.

And something tells me that being a Hero is going to get a whole heck of a lot worse from here.

I stand up, suddenly resolute. I place the magic boomerang back into the treasure box and start walking away. I'm done; I'm not the Hero. If someone wants to destroy these statues and get the Triforce of Courage, that's not my problem.

I unsheathe my sword as I prepare to fight my way back out of this temple. Someone else can be the Hero, destructive and terrible yet courageous and beloved. Someone who actually believes that this is a mission from the gods.

But I am not that Hero.

* * *

 **Author's Note** : This story was actually started a long time ago (the timestamp on the Word document was September 2013 when I opened it up again), but I was nervous about publishing something a little controversial—bringing up religion online tends to be a bad idea. Indeed, even now I'm still a little apprehensive about publishing it, but hopefully, I have not offended anyone (religious or non-religious). If I did, it was entirely unintentional (but please notify me how I offended you so that I can be careful next time).

In terms of the story itself, I had two main inspirations for it. The first was that Nayru, Farore, and Din have never been canonically seen in-game aside from religious statues (e.g. in The Wind Waker or Twilight Princess); we actually have no confirmation of their existence. And with a lack of substantial proof, maybe even the Hero himself doesn't believe in them. The second inspiration was just how destructive the Hero is forced to be in the games. Does he feel bad sometimes about destroying priceless age-old monuments? See also the webcomic Brawl In the Family's 149th comic ("Hero").

* * *

 _Published May 30, 2015  
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